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Where In Algonquin? » WIA 753 » 4/17/2024 10:16 am

Looks like the north end of Islet to me....but that's not anywhere near Raven, so.....

Trip Planning » ICE-OUT Prediction 2024!! » 3/08/2024 9:11 am

My limited experience with ice-out trips is that there is about a two week window between ice-out and bug-in.  So......is bug-in tied more closely to ice-out or is bug-in tied more closely to the typical mid-May temperatures?

Equipment » new head lite recommendations » 3/05/2024 3:50 pm

I really like my Petzl E-Lite.  Small, fits into a little plastic egg, I carry it in a zippered pants pocket all day.  Weighs nothing, has been reliable for me. (I did have one that started getting intermittent after I beat it up enough, so I replaced it).  It only provides 50 lumens, but I don't need to illuminate the entire outdoors like a prison yard.  It has a lever switch - dim, bright, strobe, red, something else I can't remember, but all I ever use is "bright", and it has an "emergency whistle" on the cord, which is comically useless.  I hang it in the tent and it lights up what I need.  It is easy to carry two if you want redundancy.

The only downside I have with it is I wear a broadbrimmed hat, and the brim of the hat interferes with the light beam.  I think that would happen with a lot of headband-style lamps.  Not problematic enough for me to want to change, I use it every trip.

Trip Planning » Animal Proofing Food at Portages? » 2/18/2024 9:33 pm

I double carry, and take the pack and paddles first.  I bang the paddles on trees and make a bunch of noise periodically the whole way.  That....more or less alerts the larger animals I'd prefer not to encounter that I'd prefer not to encounter them.  But raccoons, chipmunks and the like could care less if I make some noise I'm sure.  Probably more like a dinner bell for them.

In recent yrs I've used a barrel, but in my stuff sack days, I only ever had one problem at a portage.  A bunch of raccoons wandered over to the backpack with knives and forks in their hands when I got only a few feet away from it.  Fortunately I was with a friend that time, so he stayed with the packs while I retrieved the canoe. (I was never so happy to be the one to go get the canoe, the raccoons were creeping me out). So...your concern is valid, but I think a rare occurrence.

Where In Algonquin? » WiA #734 » 1/29/2024 9:26 am

I feel like the sun is in the wrong position for this, but Wenona?

Where In Algonquin? » WiA #729 » 1/17/2024 9:35 am

I think this is incorrect, but the view is about right for it.  Cranebill, from the too-long portage between Cranebill and Islet.

Where In Algonquin? » WIA 725 » 1/08/2024 7:16 pm

I looked to me like you chose to enjoy lunch at an upscale restaurant and your server just dropped off an incredible appetizer tray.

Catch-all Discussions » Yuletide canoe » 12/18/2023 8:51 am

Our current cat ignores Christmas trees, and this year he is kind of afraid of the giant tree and I don't blame him (I stood next to it yesterday and was a little afraid), but our prior generations of cats have spent a significant amount of time sleeping underneath them.

Catch-all Discussions » Yuletide canoe » 12/11/2023 7:32 pm

When the needles fall it will be like the jelly of the month club.  "Clark, that's the gift that keeps on giving the whole year long."

Trip Planning » ICE-OUT Prediction 2024!! » 12/11/2023 7:28 pm

I'm sticking with Maypril 5th.

Catch-all Discussions » Yuletide canoe » 12/09/2023 5:22 pm

Probably not the photo you we're thinking of given my subject name, but the faithful, loyal, and ever ready nova craft pal serves its annual yuletide purpose of holding up the christmas tree in a bucket of water while we prep the family room for the tree. 

And not for nothing, but this tree is soooooo much bigger than we thought it was.  I usually take a tape measure but thought I would eyeball it this year.  Well done......

Trip Reports » Algonquin Misadventure » 12/06/2023 2:40 pm

April 35th seems early to me.  I'm going with Maypril 2nd.  It's a Fraterday.

 

History » Club L. Ritchie Bros. sawmill » 12/06/2023 10:20 am

The 1km portage next to that is a former road from that structure, and is about as straight, wide, even, and smooth as it gets.  So, there was no excuse for me, in 2016, when I fell on that trail with the canoe.  I stepped on a little nub of a root, slightly larger than the size of a knuckle on your index finger, and it was just enough to buckle my ankle and I went down in a heap.  Proud moment.  

Trip Reports » Algonquin Misadventure » 12/06/2023 9:33 am

For So far we have eight installments of driving a car in too far, snapping off a mirror out of reluctance to back up, and then backing out.  I'm not sure I have the patience to go through multiple installments of "disturbing sights". 

On the other hand, things usually slow down on AA during the winter months (until we decide to start predicting ice out and express confusion/concern over the reservation system), so for now it gives us something to do.  

Where In Algonquin? » WIA 707 » 11/30/2023 3:44 pm

I stink at this, but that looks kind of Booth-ish to me. 

Trip Reports » Algonquin Misadventure » 11/29/2023 1:35 pm

Yeah, you're not doing a three-point turn there. 

Looking forward to the rest of the story, and appreciate your sharing it with us.  During just about any of my canoe trips I'll do something less than brilliant, and I always highlight those things in my trip reports.  I don't feel too smart about those moments, but generally speaking, I feel like it helps "the next guy" to avoid my lapses (no shortage of those), so I swallow my pride and include them, plus, in  my case, if I didn't write about those moments there'd be nothing to write about. 

Anyway, I appreciate you sharing this.  Seems like you came out of it ok or we wouldn't be reading this, obviously glad to hear that, but any reminder that things can go wrong is a good reminder.

Trip Reports » Smoke Lake to Rock Lake with my daughter » 11/07/2023 9:08 am

Well, first off, your daughter is a real gamer, so well done to her!  This trip was no doubt another moment (in a long list of moments) in which you were reminded how glad you are to be a dad.  

Second, and this is important, you'll want to commit this to memory.  My family did "The Alphabet Game", but we played it one topic at a time.  So, maybe animal one round, fruit/vegetable another round (quince fruit - you'll need to remember that), movie titles, characters, occupations, locations, colors (good luck with that one) all kinds of things, but of course, it all started with animals.  Ready?  X-ray fish.  (Specifically "X-ray tetra, but the judges will accept X-ray fish.)  X was such a difficult letter in ALL of our versions of this game that X-ray fish became the accepted response for X no matter what the topic was.

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